Archive By Section - Local News

The ugly scrawl of profanity, the illegible ramblings of rival gang members in a turf war, the inconsiderate scribbling of someone with nothing better to do - nothing drags a community down faster than the blight of graffiti.

Several members from Oakdale's Sierra and River Oaks 4-H clubs competed in Davis recently at the State Field Day for the Fashion Revue and Presentation Day. Stanislaus County had five participants in the Fashion Revue, three representing Sierra 4-H and two representing River Oaks 4-H. Each of them won awards at the county and regional contests in order to advance to the state level.

When the going gets tough, the tough get … new sign ordinances that will enable the city to rake in some much-needed dough from minor traffic infractions.

Oakdale City Council members approved a code text amendment to the Oakdale Municipal Code at the last council meeting, Monday, June 7, that is modeled after the successful implementation of similar amendments in Newman and Riverbank.

Riverbank Oakdale Transit Authority members made progress on June 8 with polishing a plan to set up an intercity shopping trip by trolley every Tuesday but delayed a decision to go ahead until next month.

The temperatures are climbing quickly into the 'is it summer already?' zone and Oakdale is lucky to have the cool, crisp waters of the Stanislaus River winding its way through the zip code. However, officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are quick to remind people that the river is running swift from high country snow run-off and cold with brisk temperatures between 55 and 60 degrees.

Cooler than normal spring weather brought late season snow to the mountains, delaying the annual melting by about three weeks, according to reports by the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

The Oakdale Irrigation District Board of Directors unanimously approved the implementation of a demonstration project for Total Channel Control (TCC) on the Claribel and Cometa laterals by Rubicon Systems, an Australian company that manufactures water control gates, precision water measurement instruments using wireless technology, and monitoring and control software that enables water authorities to manage and operate their systems more efficiently.

The words 'quiet on set!' could be heard from production crew members in the Chateau Meroux, the countryside home of Sean Gnekow, which is nestled next to Woodward Reservoir, about four miles north of Oakdale.

There's no doubt the unseasonably cool spring weather coupled with late rains have kept the temperatures in a pleasant zone but not without cost. The rainy season has created an extra heavy fuel load as the official fire season declared by CAL FIRE - albeit delayed - approaches with an estimated late June or early July target. The date is driven by local and state burning conditions and activity.

The Memorial Day holiday weekend traffic, both Friday and Monday, backed up Yosemite Avenue and clogged up F Street but in spite of heavy traffic flow and increased visitors through the city, law enforcement reported a relatively quiet holiday with the only spike being in DUI arrests due to the special grant-funded traffic enforcement.

"The calls were really run-of-the-mill," Lt. Lester Jenkins of the Oakdale Police Department said. "We had very heavy traffic throughout the weekend but not a lot of accidents."

The Stanislaus County Chief Executive Office has released the county's recommended proposed budget for the 2010-2011 budget year. The recommended proposed budget will serve as an interim spending plan for Stanislaus County operations until a final budget for 2010-2011 is adopted in September.

Delta BC Mexico: The largest earthquake in the California Region since the 8+ in 1906 that hit San Francisco did not stop 22 U.S. citizens from going six miles from the epicenter to do their service work through area clubs in April this year. Forty-two miles south of the border the town of Delta had no water and very little electricity, which made doing the medical clinics and work at the local elementary school a challenge. In spite of this, a total of over $92,000 worth of clinics, refurbishing and delivery of materials took place in two days.

U.S. Representative Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) introduced a bill on Wednesday, Jan. 14 to lessen the burden on disabled veterans by extending military commissary and exchange store privileges to former service members and their families.

The Bacigalupi family is well known throughout the Oakdale area. Not only for the infamous H-B Saloon on F Street, but also for their philanthropy including sponsoring the Cowboy Golf Tournament, the annual AFC-NFC Championship Tailgate Party to benefit local causes, donations to Spirit of Oakdale, Community Sharing, the Lions Club Children's Christmas Shopping Tour and several contributions to Oakdale High School sports.

Life is not being wasted on Bill and Joanne Parker. At the ages of 85 (Bill) and 84 (Joanne), this couple did not wait for New Year's Day to make a resolution or begin a new health plan. On Jan. 2, 2015 the couple could be found in the same place they were on Dec. 31, 2014 … putting in some time at Fitness Plus in Oakdale.

Like many families do, the 'family' of kids, parents and teachers at The Learning Tree Preschool in Oakdale recently completed their holiday 'Gingerbread House' craft making activity, with the children able to take home their sweet treats to display (or eat) over the holidays. Following are some photos from the special craft day.

Law enforcement fatalities in the U.S. rose 24 percent in 2014, reversing what had been two years of dramatic declines in line of duty deaths, based on preliminary data compiled and released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF).